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Fast data transfers
Time is money, as financial institutions know only too well. So it is hardly surprising that VR DISKONTBANK uses two high-speed data-transfer systems: DIANA and EDI.
DIANA stands for Data Interchange and Network Application. This online-data transfer system was developed by VR DISKONTBANK specifically to ensure the fast and secure exchange of data via the internet. The advantage of using the internet as a transmission medium is that data are accessible as soon as they reach the computer they are addressed to. That means key information can be retrieved and processed as and when required. This saves time and, therefore, money. Routine checks are performed to ensure that DIANA remains uninterruptedly available all round the clock.
EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange. This is a standard for the electronic transmission of structured data from one company to another. It provides a basis for the rapid long-distance exchange of large quantities of data between different types of IT system. The transmission process is fully automated and therefore highly user-friendly. VR DISKONTBANK’s adoption of the EDI standard means that the company supports EDIFACT, the international EDI standard developed under the auspices of the United Nations, and also a number of other well-established data-transfer formats.
Complying with standardized transaction processes permits all kinds of savings: complex but regularly recurring routines can often be automated in part or in whole, which relieves staff of the tedium of manually posting and processing documents and data. And when this source of error is eliminated, fewer backward checks and corrections are required. Of course, the automation of time-consuming work processes also helps streamline internal structures and optimize cost structures. Other related benefits include reduced expenditure on postage, stationery, and telecommunications. In short, work processes are performed more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. These are advantages that will increase your competitiveness – both now and in the future.
Exploiting the available data
There is no doubt that using technically mature systems pays rich dividends. Standard procedures are performed more quickly and more accurately. In addition, the data gathered can be processed to provide all kinds of valuable information, and it goes without saying that VR DISKONTBANK’s range of services includes the organization of the data it harvests into valuable sets of statistics. Depending on the requirements of the customer, we can perform all kinds of statistical assessment – right down to the level of individual inventory articles. We also have OCR programs which we use for scanning paper invoices. So you are always in the picture, both about products that have been paid for, and about how your individual member companies are performing. Simply being able to access such a comprehensive range of information is highly advantageous in that it allows you to make well-informed business decisions quickly, and plan and control your business activities accordingly.
Secure data storage
Nowadays, companies have to store key business documentation in such a way that it can be retrieved by external auditors at any time. Furthermore, their storage procedures have to comply with the various stipulations of civil, criminal and fiscal law. Since we aim to provide our customers with a comprehensive range of central-settlement services, we also accept responsibility for the safekeeping of their key commercial data. Our data-management systems are secure, and can cope with just about any kind of commercial documentation – from scanned vouchers and slips of paper right through to EDI-compliant data files. And of course the members of your association are able to view and download the various items of documentation in our care via the internet. But you may prefer to sign up for our centralized documentation-clearing service. If you do, the original invoices that your contractual suppliers would otherwise issue to the members of your association are instead sent to us as your central-settlement partner. We enter the invoices in our computer systems, archive them, and process them so that they can be accessed online. This arrangement guarantees a maximum of transparency at a minimum of administrative cost and effort.
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